1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a mobile terminal in which a first body and a second body are foldably connected together by a connector.
2. Background Art
In mobile terminals, such as a cellular phone, conventionally, foldable ones in which two bodies are rotatably connected together via a connector have come into wide use. For example, a mobile terminal in which a lower body (first body) is held by a user's hand when the mobile terminal is used, and is provided with an operation part which has a number of input keys and function keys on its surface, and an upper body (second body) is provided with a display (LCD) is known.
On the other hand, according to Patent Document 1, a mobile terminal which includes a first rotating shaft and a second rotating shaft which is connected on other places than a central portion of the first rotating shaft, and connected with an upper body in a direction intersecting the first rotating shaft is disclosed.
According to this mobile terminal, by rotating the upper body and a lower body about the first rotating shaft from the state where the upper body and the lower body are closed, it becomes possible to perform so-called longitudinal opening operation. Moreover, by rotating the upper body and the lower body about the second rotating shaft from the state where the upper body and the lower body are closed, it becomes possible to perform so-called lateral opening operation.
Here, the second rotating shaft supports only upper ends of the lower body and the upper body. That is, the lower body and the upper body are cantilever-supported by the second rotating shaft. For this reason, when the mobile terminal is laterally opened, it is considered that a relatively large load is applied to the second rotating shaft.
In the mobile terminal of Patent Document 1, a mobile terminal in which when being laterally opened, a convex portion provided in a longitudinal middle portion of the lower body engages with a cushioning member provided in a longitudinal middle portion of the upper body is suggested.
According to this configuration, when the mobile terminal is laterally opened, the laterally opened state will be stabilized by regulating the rotation of the second rotating shaft.
Further, according to Patent Document 2, a mobile terminal has a lower body (first body), a connector (second body), and an upper body (third body), and has a first hinge which openably connects the connector to the lower body, and a second hinge which openably connects the upper body to the connector in a direction orthogonal to the opening and closing direction of the connector by the first hinge. Also, the mobile terminal has an opening-and-closing regulating means which permits the operation of the first hinge and regulates the operation of the second hinge in a state where the connector and the upper body are closed.
According to this mobile terminal, by rotating the upper body and the lower body about the first hinge provided in the connector from the state where the upper body and the lower body are closed, it becomes possible to perform so-called longitudinal opening operation. Moreover, by rotating the upper body and the lower body about the second hinge provided in the connector from the state where the upper body and the lower body are closed, it becomes possible to perform so-called lateral opening operation.
[Patent Document 1] JP-A-2006-22899
[Patent Document 2] JP-A-2005-216158
In the mobile terminal described in Patent Document 1, the second rotating shaft is connected to one end of the upper body in its width direction. Therefore, if an external force is applied to the upper body in a longitudinally opened state, the upper body may be easily rotated about the second rotating shaft, which is unstable. Further, an external force may be concentrated on the second rotating shaft.
Further, when an external force is applied to the upper body even in a closed state, an external force may be concentrated on the second rotating shaft.
In the mobile terminal described in Patent Documents 2, when the upper body and the lower body are longitudinally opened, the upper body is once closed and integrated with the connector, and is opened about the first hinge. For this reason, the opening-and-closing regulating means prevents the upper body from being separated from the connector such that the upper body is opened about the second hinge.
However, the aforementioned opening-and-closing regulating means regulates opening and closing of the upper body only with a shaft body which reciprocates by a solenoid provided in the connector, and does not regulate even the position of the upper body. Therefore, if an external force acts on the upper body in a longitudinally opened state, there is a problem in that the second hinge may resist the external force, and consequently, instability and shaking may be caused. For example, in a body where a user talks over a telephone in a longitudinally opened state, a user's ear is pressed against a receiver, whereby an external force is often applied such that the opening angle in a longitudinal opening direction (direction in which the upper body rotates about the first hinge) becomes large. Moreover, since the second hinge is connected to one end of the upper body in its width direction, more instability is caused. Further, an external force may be concentrated on the second hinge.